Familiar Curve
by ianna28
Summary: SEQUEL TO UNSEEN CURVE Many often forget that Loki isn't a hero, that his moral compass only matters when it comes to his family. People are going to be reminded of what he's capable of when the Starks run into a collector of rarities and oddities, including living beings. SLASH PastMpreg FrostIron AU
1. Chapter 1

**A****/N: his first chapter takes place almost exactly one year later from the end of Unseen Curve.  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Tony pulled the small jacket over Key's arms as she sat on the couch. She looked at him, twitching her nose a little. Tony leaned forward and nipped her nose with his lips and she let out a surprised squeak before putting her hands over her nose. He chuckled and snapped some of the buttons on the jacket before he stood up and grabbed his last layer of clothing to put on himself. He had started with an undershirt, a long sleeve thermal shirt, a t-shirt on over that, a track jacket and then his padded long winter jacket.

One year old Aurora Keyri had watched her Daddy getting dressed with interest, until he started to get her dressed, putting her in the restrictive jacket. Tony picked her up from the couch, tucking her against his side before heading outside the balcony. "Your father should have left a little door for us before he left, or else he's going to be in a lot of trouble."

Tony could feel the lingering energy from the spell that Loki had left and secretly felt a little bit of relief; he did not want to try and figure out to get to Jotunheim on his own. Also Emma and Dani would probably murder him slowly, have Anya bring him back, only to murder him again for missing their wedding.

They walked through the rift and Tony felt the bite of cold on his nose right away as they appeared in the palace gardens. He felt Key shiver in his arm and she turned into his jacket, gripping it with her hands. "Col'," she mumbled quietly into the jacket. At one she was still quiet, hardly crying, and being generally more well behaved than any of her other siblings. Tony was immensely pleased with this.

"It seems that one of our children finally takes after you." Tony looked over and saw Loki standing there, a smirk on his blue face and a smile in his red eyes. "She's actually cold and didn't turn blue."

"Well, it's about time, honestly." Tony pulled his wide scarf out from under his jacket and layered it over Key, making her let out a soft giggle when he dropped the fringed end over her face. "We aren't too late are we?" He noticed that Loki was already in his royal attire, ceremonial crown in place.

"Just in time to take all of those clothes off to get dressed in the clothes that you hate." Tony let out a little groan and they headed inside the castle. "Melisande is all ready to take her duties as tiny ringbearer, and I'm sure that Fay is wondering just how involved she might want to be with our son." Tony raised an eyebrow at his husband. "She's about as cold as you get." Tony snorted and smirked.

"Good, I'm not the only one." They walked into their room for Tony and Key to get changed as Loki rolled his eyes. Tony handed the the little girl to her Father to get dressed while he looked at his own clothes, golden circlet sitting next to it. Tony wrinkled his nose as he quickly started to take off all his layers, wanting to get into the charmed clothes quickly to stay warm. He greatly disliked looking royal, specially when for once he wasn't trying to be the center of attention at a gathering.

"Feel like watching the little big for a second?" Tony said as he pulled on the final piece to his outfit.

"Going to get your tears on your daughter's wedding dress?" Loki asked as he pulled little boots onto Key's feet. She kicked her one booted foot around, watching the ice crystals on it catch the light. She enjoyed the warmth sealed clothes.

"You know it." Tony kissed hs cheek, grabbing the circlet and letting it hang around his wrist. "And to see what she has to say about my hair." Loki let out a little laugh as Tony left. Tony thought he would surprise Emma and Dani with a hair cut. It was still long, but not nearly as long as he had let it grow over the years. He could no longer pull it back and tie it, but was still able to tuck it behind his ears if he wanted.

Tony adjusted his blue colored glasses (because something Had to be blue on him in Jotunheim since it wasn't his skin) and he knocked on the door he stopped in front of, throwing his circlet on at the last moment. The door clicked open and he grinned, kissing Kaia's cheek. "Hello my first born."

"Last minute as usual?" She raised an amused eyebrow.

"Hush," he swatter her shoulder and stepped inside. "I reserve my right as father to the bride, and King consort." He stepped past Kaia and looked over at Emma as she finished pinning up a piece of her hair. Her hair was covered in jewels and ice crystals, pinned up to fan out around her head. Tony held out his arms and pulled her into his arms. "And here you are, the princess I always spoiled you as."

Emma laughed and grinned at him before reaching out to play with the end of his hair. "You cut your hair for me. I think that might be the best present I'll get." She had on a green dress that complimented her blue skin very well, with a length of matching fabric wrapped around her waist and over her shoulder. There was a sheer green veil hanging by the bed that matched the dress; both had jewels and ice sewn into them. Tony could already see that he was going to lose some of his manliness when he saw her getting married later.

"If you're not careful, I'll grow it out again." He kissed her forehead before grabbing the silver tiara on the dressing table and slipping it on her head. "Does Dani know just what we're giving her? Cause she better appreciate it." Emma rolled her eyes with a smile. 

* * *

If Tony thought that the ice pillars for the ceremony were something to behold, he was blown away by everything down in the main hall for the reception. Loki had worked together with the Ice Nymphs to create some enchanted ice sculptures, including the ice carriages that took most of the guests from the ceremony back to the palace. There were moving sculptures of birds, dancers, and even instruments. There were detailed archways made of ice and every table had a small sculpture tailored to the theme of the Realm that guests hailed from.

"I think I'm most impressed that the royal coffers were not touched in creating this grand spectacle." Tony jumped and almost spied his drink when the deep voice spoke from behind him. He turned quickly, eyes a little wide, facing a smirking Utgard-Loki.

"You just Live to scare me witless, don't you?" Tony accused as he tried to calm his heart down.

"I admit, it is a small perverse pleasure that I draw from it." He toasted his glass with Tony's before taking a drink. "I am impressed though."

"Well, I have plenty of money back in Midgard, and Loki somehow managed to convert some of that to the local currency here." Tony said after he taken a slightly more generous drink from his glass. "Back there there's a very old tradition that the Father of the bride pay for the wedding, or at least help. And if this family is well off, why have the Kingdom pay for it?"

"The people wouldn't have minded," he told Tony. "She is a well loved monarch, with her newly wed partner just as popular with the citizens."

"Now she can be even more loved as they realize that we happily invested back into the market and business."

"I admit that I had underestimated you all those years ago when you appeared to ask my help," Utgard-loki admitted and Tony raised an eyebrow. "A tiny Midgardian as yourself has helped improve our Realm in a way that the people had all but thought impossible. Jotunheim flourishes more than it has in centuries." He lifted his glass and Tony returned the gesture. "Blessings onto the Royal family, and their day of celebration." Tony nodded his head with a smile and they both took a drink.

If someone had told Tony years ago, after becoming Iron Man for the first time, that he would eventually be toasting with Giants at a Royal wedding, with his family no less, he would have said that maybe they needed to lay off of the alcohol more than he did. But here he was, having watched his second daughter get married, watching his alien husband with their youngest as he socialized, showing her off, and toasting with a man that had almost killed him nearly 20 years previous. His life would never be boring, of that he was sure.


	2. Chapter 2

**A****/N: This first chapter takes place almost exactly one year later from the end of Unseen Curve.  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

"I feel under dressed," Fay said to Sander, hands around his glass. She had on a floor length green dress with gold accents around her waist and the top of the dress. Sander glanced at her and raised an eyebrow. "Are you kidding me with that eyebrow? You're a freaking Prince here and you look like it, and I'm your peasant sidekick." Sander had stayed his normal pale self, but couldn't deny that the clothes they usually wore for official functions made them stand out a little.

"I wouldn't say peasant," Sander told her as she adjusted the high collar on his long jacket. He could see how close her nails were to his neck and the look in her eyes that told him to choose his next words wisely. "You are obviously someone of import." She narrowed her eyes at him a little as she pulled her hands away. He smiled and leaned in to give her a quick kiss.

"Go easy on him, he's still being trained." The couple turned to see Gabby and Steve walking over to them. "All men begin a slow training process once they get into a relationship. Isn't that right sweetheart?" Steve kissed her forehead and Gabby grinned.

"Uncle Steve." Sander shook his head slowly. He jumped a little when Fay pinched his arms.

"Like you aren't already whipped," Steve said, snorting a little.

"Among other things," Fay murmured and smiled when Sander's face turned a little red.

"I'd love to see that blush on a Jotun," Gabby told her nephew, making him blush even more. Fay smirked and rubbed his arm a little as Gabby and Steve chuckled. 

* * *

Tony was holding onto Key in his arms as he stood next to Loki, who had Melisande standing in front of him. Most of the guests were taking their leave for the night, and they had positioned themselves by the exit, with Emma and Dani not too far away, and they were being gracious hosts, with adorable children.

Key let out a big yawn, turning in Tony's arm so she could lay against his chest but still see the people who were walking by. "Not too much longer baby girl, go ahead and fall asleep on Daddy." Loki snorted a little and Tony grinned. "Daddy is nice and warm."

"Are you pandering to our one year old?" Loki raised an eyebrow after he watched Melisande run over to standing with Emma and Dani across from them.

"Never," Tony shook his head, but couldn't wipe the smile off of his face. The hall was getting quieter as some of the last of the guests were leaving, leaving mostly just family to mill around as palace staff started to clear the room. A small group of guests headed their way and engaged the family individually. A woman came up to Tony and gave a soft smile to the tired Key.

"You have an amazing family, that cannot be argued," the woman told Tony. Tony was unable to tell where she was from, but he knew she wasn't from Jotunheim.

"Thanks, I think I'll take a lot of the credit for that," he said with his patented Stark grin. Tony's instincts extended his hand to shake her hand as he noticed the rest of the group leaving. When their hands met Tony looked into her eyes and saw a yellow flash and felt a knot build in his chest suddenly. He was aware of Loki moving suddenly from his peripheral vision as a suddenly burning pain shot up his arm, hit his shoulder, and spiderweb through his body. He felt his knees give out and his body start to fall to the ground, his vision started to go black. Tony tried to turn his body in a last movement to keep Key from falling.

As Loki finished talking to one of the village Elders near to the palace he felt an odd tingle of power. He turned to see Tony reaching out to shake hands with a strange woman that he hadn't seen before, and Loki had made a note to have at least seen the face of every person who had attended tonight. Loki saw the moment that Tony's body lost all control, and his feet were already moving. He felt Dani's magic across from him, ice crackling across the floor to trap the woman's legs and Loki moved for Tony.

Loki wrapped an arm around Tony's waist, catching him before he hit the ground, his other arm wrapping around Key as she jerked in Tony's grip, making a slight squeaking sound. Tony's eyes were closed and Loki gently lowered him to the ground, shifting Key into his arm. "Tony, Tony open your eyes now." He ran his fingers along the side of Tony's neck and felt some relief when he still felt a strong pulse underneath.

Loki looked up when he heard a low growling voice and saw that Thor was facing the woman, Steve by him, and Utgard-Loki behind the both of them. Dani's ice had moved up to her arms to trap the woman completely, and everyone else had moved over to them, Chris and Alex kneeling down next to Loki to check on Tony as well. Melisande had moved over to Sander and Fay, standing behind his legs.

Loki pushed himself up, barely feeling Tomas take Key from his arms, but knew that she would be safe. Loki walked towards the woman, who moments ago had a soft smile for his daughter, but now had a hard glint in her eyes, face set in a scowl. Yet she wasn't struggling in her bonds.

"What did you do?" Loki growled out at her. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "What did you do to him? I will Not ask again."

"The great Trickster, tamed," she said eventually. "Look at you, taking orders, staying in one place, being so, Predictable."

Loki glanced at over at Sander minutely and saw him frown before moving to block Melisande's sight, and leaning down to talk to her, Fay helping. He could hear Tomas behind him moving to take Key away. Loki wasn't sure what they saw in his eyes at the moment, but he knew what he was feeling, and he didn't want the two youngest around.

When he was sure that they were far enough away Loki reacted, faster than anyone around him could have predicted. His hand lashed out, long fingers wrapping around her throat, pulling her from the ice roughly.

"Loki." Loki had moved before Thor could try and stop him. The woman was trying to pull in breaths as Loki lifted her up.

"I said I would not ask again," Loki told the woman. "If you will not tell me willingly, I will simply pull it from you, in one way or another." His fingers had started to glow a sickly green and he locked eyes with the woman.

A cough and voice stopped him though. "Loki, try not to cause any bloodshed at a wedding." Loki tilted his head back slightly, masking the relief and slight surprise he felt at hearing Tony's voice.

"Your family, catches, attention," the woman wheezed out with a smirk. "This was, just, a bit, of fun." Loki saw a yellow light flash in her eyes suddenly and her body went cold, her skin cold, even to Loki's Jotun form. Loki dropped her body and it fell lifeless to the ground.

Loki ground his jaw a little then turned back to move to Tony, who had just gotten to his feet with Chris and Alex's help. Tony put a hand on Loki's arm, hoping it would calm down the rage that was slowly becoming more and more noticeable. "It's okay, I'm okay." He knew they were both still on edge from the events from last year. "There's no lasting effect, you'd be able to feel it." Loki nodded as he placed a hand on Tony's side, mostly reassure himself.

"This is just life getting back to normal, small stuff." Tony gave him a small smile, leaning his head against Loki's. "Although I am a little flattered that you went a little evil for me." Loki grunted but didn't move, keeping Tony close to him. "Just another day in our crazy lives."


	3. Chapter 3

**A****/N: This first chapter takes place almost exactly one year later from the end of Unseen Curve.  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Tony tugged lightly on the end of Loki's hair in their bed that night. Loki seemed to be asleep, but Tony knew better. He knew that Loki was ready to jump at the snap of a finger. It took a lot longer for Tony and Loki to go to sleep lately, and after what had just happened Tony was taking even longer, and Loki was on edge. Utgard-Loki had taken the mysterious woman's body to try and get some answer about who she was, where she had come from, and who, if anyone, had sent her to the party.

Tony and Loki heard the slight creek of one of the doors opening in their room and Tony put a hand on Loki's chest to keep him from jumping up. "Dad?" Melli's voice sounded in the room and Loki rolled his eyes at Tony's knowing smirk.

Loki reached over and touched one of the lamps, a small flame jumping from his fingers to the wick to light the room a little. It was enough for Melisande to see where the bed was, and to shuffle over in her large fuzzy slippers, stuffed fox in her arm. Loki put his arms out and the three year old jumped into his arms, letting him lift her up and over to lay between him and Tony.

"You're up awfully late, munchkin," Tony said, running his hand through her dark hair. She snuggled down under the blankets, bringing the fox up to her face.

"My room got really cold," she mumbled. "Can I sleep here? It's always warm in your bed."

"Warm?" Tony blinked, then bit his lip when Loki kicked his knee.

"Of course you can," Loki wrapped an arm around her, tickling her side. She giggled and pressed her face into her fox, trying to wiggle closer to Tony. "Daddy can't save you."

"Noooo," she let out through her giggles and Tony laughed. He pulled the blanket over her suddenly.

"You can't tickle her if there is no child to see," Tony declared, trying not to laugh when Melli nodded enthusiastically under the blanket.

"Oh I suppose I can let her get away," Loki said dramatically, letting out a loud sigh. "she shall be able to sleep tonight, but tomorrow she will have to dress like a princess again." They both heard the tiny squee under the blankets and snorted. 

* * *

"Really?" Sander looked over at Fay as he slid his heavy jacket on. "You two are going exploring right after breakfast?" Tomas was wrapping a scarf around his neck next to his twin. "I know it's so you can avoid dressing up again."

"I'm sure we have no idea what you're talking about." Tomas grinned at his brother's partner. "We are merely using our last day to its fullest extent, getting to know our family's Kingdom."

"I am not covering for you," Fay told them. "I'm going to tell your Fathers that you ran off to get lost."

"I don't think they'd be very surprised, honestly," Sander commented and Tomas nodded. He walked over and kissed her, grinning. "We'll be back, don't worry." Fay let out a little sigh and kissed her back, pulling her jacket a little tighter around her, despite the heating charms Loki had gifted her with.

"Just don't get yourself killed, alright?" Tomas kissed her cheek and started to run, laughing as Sander chased him. She sighed louder. "I had to choose a twin." 

* * *

Sander wasn't sure if they were jinxed for being Starks, or jinxed by Fay's words, but trouble found them not even an hour later. The two brothers had been hunting for a hidden cave when they both felt an unusual energy around them. Sander had turned first and swore when he leaned back to avoid a set of claws suddenly in front of him.

"Tom!" Sander rolled back, yelling to his brother when more clawed creatures came towards them. They didn't know what they were, they weren't exactly shadows, but they certainly weren't native to Jotumheim. They had been sent to target the brothers.

He turned and saw greens vines with large, and long, thorns on them, sliding through the snow. Sander frowned when he saw them, rolling away from one of the creatures to follow the vine. He conjured a dagger in his hand and turned, slashing one of the creatures chest, then spinning around to slide one of the vines.

Sander stumbled back then when the vine whipped back, slicing his skin, pressing a hand to his cheek, feeling the wet warmth of his blood soak into his glove. He tried to duck when he heard the vines whip through the air behind him but wasn't able to move fast enough. Sander gagged and grabbed at the thorn pricked vine that squeezed, trapping one hand under it, thorn pressing through the glove and trying to break through his scarf. He stumbled and fell back into the snow as the vine tugged, moving back to its owner.

"Sander!" Tomas turned as he froze the last creature, his hands still blue, breathing hard. "Let him go." Sander winced when the vine squeezed tighter, thorns digging deeper into his hand and breaking the skin on his neck. He wheezed in a breath, slowly moving to his knees.

"Why should I let him go?" The woman said behind him, moving slowly closer to him. "I need something to take back with me, so there isn't much you can offer me that will make me let him go."

"You'd be smart to fear our Father," Tomas told her, inching closer to Sander, little by little. He saw a small shot of power leave Tomas's figners, headed back towards the palace, and most likely their parents. "He's taken down much stronger, and smarter, beings than you." Sander felt a soft snort of air above his head, not moving when he felt long nails trail through his hair.

"I'm afraid there'd be nothing he could do by the time he got here," she said, watching Tomas. "I'm still not having seeing the incentive to let him go." She gripped Sander's hair suddenly and pulled him up to his feet. Sander let out a groan of pain, winching when he felt another vine starting to travel up his leg.

"Stop!" Tomas jerked forward. "Wait, just, wait." Sander frowned watching his brother. He didn't like the look in his eyes. "How about a trade, we're almost exactly the same. You wouldn't be missing out on anything. Sander's eyes widened.

"You would take his place?" The woman sounded intrigued and Sander was worried. "Willingly?" Tomas nodded, swallowing thickly. The woman walked past Sander towards his brother and he tried to move after her, but the vines kept him in place. She circled Tomas once, letting nails trail around his back and shoulders. "You must truly love your brother, to take his place. Tell me about him, why has earned such loyalty."

"He's already given his life once for us, I can't let him do it again," Tomas said, jaw tight as the woman stayed close, keeping her hand on him. "Our little sister is rather attached to him, and his partner just as much." She seemed to smirk a little at the information.

Tomas let out a hiss of pain when a vine wrapped around his leg and started to move up. She stepped behind him, running her hands up his arms over the jacket, more thorned vines following her touch. The vine left Sander's leg, moving towards his brother. The pressure around his hand and neck started to loosen up before pulling away suddenly, tearing up the glove and his hand with the thorns. He gasped for breath and fell back to his knees, his food hand stopping him from falling face first into the ground.

Tomas grunted when he was lifted off the ground a little, the woman stepping in front of him. "Would you like to know what's going to happen? What you've saved your brother from?" Tomas watched her but didn't say anything. "I've been fascinated for years by some of the old stories from different worlds, different places, and I've had a bit of nostalgia, re-creating some of my favorite stories."

The woman turned suddenly when Sander had pushed himself up, vines grabbing his arms to stop him from moving. Walking over to him she opened his jacket before ripping a hole in his shirt with her nails. Sanders eyes widened a little when her fingers settled on top of the arc reactor. She suddenly ripped it out, pulling a pained gasp from Sander, and tossed it away, a couple hundred feet away. "Sander let out a little cry of shock and pain when a large vine slid into the hole in his chest, thorns catching around the inside of the rim, keeping him in place.

Tomas found that his lips wouldn't move, he couldn't shout at her to stop, to beg her to leave him alone. He glared when she turned around to face him again. "As I was saying, you are going to play the pivotal role in re-creating Earth's story of, what do they call it, Sleeping Beauty?" She pulled out a long thorn and walked close to him before quickly piercing his chest with the tip of the thorn.

Tomas' eyes started to droop and his head started to lull forward when running footsteps in the snow caught their attention. "Let them go, now!" Loki shouted, hands green with spells. Tony ran over to Sander, eyes instantly going to his chest, but unable to get close enough to him because of the vines.

"You can kill me," the woman said, softly tapping Tomas's chin with her finger. His eyes fluttered a little before slipping closed, his head falling forward. "But he won't wake up, not now. Not for quite some time actually. What can happen now is that you can choose just how long he's gone." She turned to face the three men. "If you take him, it will take at least a century before he is able to wake up. If I take him, then the time will be dramatically reduced. Of course, I'm not exactly sure How he will be woken up but that's the fun of it."

"You seem very unconcerned for your life," Loki growled out. He recognized a yellow glint in her eyes suddenly and he frowned.

She just shrugged. "Killing me will not change what happens to your son." Her eyes roved over Sander then she smiled a little. "Perhaps you will spare me for a little while if I tell you where your other sons glowing heart is. He doesn't seem to be doing too well."

Sander was trying not to breathe to deeply, or too fast, but knew that he wasn't doing too well at the moment. "I can just replace it," Tony threw at the woman angrily. "If you-" He stopped when Sander let out a suddenly cry of pain, doubling over in pain, face draining of all color, when the vine twisted inside of his chest.

"I don't think you'll have the time for that," she said, and they could hear the satisfied smirk on her face. A trail of yellow suddenly appeared across the snow in the direction of the arc reactor. "Go fetch." Some wind whipped up, throwing the snow around the group. when it finally settled the woman and Tomas were gone. Sander fell to his side when the vine around hi were gone as well.

Tony dropped down and pulled Sander to him as Loki took off running for the reactor. Sander opened his mouth to say something and Tony shook his head. "I swear if I hear you say sorry for what just happened, I'll make sure you go into a cardiac arrest before he gets back with the reactor." Sander could hear the tightness in Tony's voice and just nodded, letting his head drop down, resting against Tony's leg. "I don't care what happened, this wasn't your fault."


	4. Chapter 4

**A****/N: This first chapter takes place almost exactly one year later from the end of Unseen Curve.  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Sander sat on the edge of the bed watching as one of the healers carefully treated and wrapped his hand. "You're getting pretty good at dealing with us small giants," he commented quietly. The healer patted his cheek with her larger hand.

"I've had lots of practice with your sister and her wife, ad sometimes your father." Sander could at least appreciate that some of the palace staff listened to their request for a casual air around them when they were outside of royal functions. None of the Starks had been very comfortable with titles when they were visiting. "If you're still here, come back in two days to have that changed. If not, your father will know what salve to use. Your neck will be a little tender, but it wasn't as bad as your hand so it won't need to be wrapped. Unless you want me too?"

Sander wrinkled his nose a little then looked at the Jotun healer and nodded a little. "I have a bad habit of scratching at my neck when I get nervous or agitated. Also, my girlfriend will worry more if she sees it."

The healer nodded and pulled out another length of bandages. "I can't do anything to return the color to your face any faster, so you'll be on your own to explaining that one." Sander's good hand absently reached to rub at at the arc reactor. It hadn't taken Loki long to find the discarded reactor, and even quicker for Tony to replace it. It was tender around the edge, having pulled at his chest when it was first torn out.

Sander held his head straight and was unable to look over when they heard the door open and someone walk in. "Majesty," the healer murmured. "His hand is going to take at least two weeks to heal until he can go without coverings. A full six weeks before most damage is healed."

"Any permanent damage?" Tony asked as he came into Sanders view.

"Some torn muscle, but nothing that will affect the functions of his hand and fingers," the healer confirmed. "The skin, in both forms, will have some discoloration, and there's a chance there will be some scars. His neck will heal over almost perfectly though."

"Thanks, Barra." The healer nodded as she finished wrapping Sander's neck. "You might as well go and see Fay, your Father is talking with his brother."

"Uncle Thor?" Sander raised an eyebrow as he pushed himself up slowly. He grunted and reluctantly accepted the wooden walking staff that Barra pressed into his good hand.

"Balder," Tony corrected. "You don't want to be in that room. There's Emma, Balder, and both Loki's." Tony walked next to Sander slowly down the hall.

"She did it with a purpose," Sander said and Tony blinked. "She asked him he would take my place, and when he mentioned Fay she knew what she was doing." Sander glanced at Tony. "What does Dad know about fairy tales?"

"About the ones on Midgard? I like to assume that he's probably read about most of them, he's big on knowledge and history. I'm not for sure though." Tony raised an eyebrow at him.

"Whoever she was, she said that she had some kind of weird thing about stories and fairy tales from different places, different realms I'm guessing," Sander started to explain. "Before you two got there, she said something about Sleeping Beauty, and suddenly she's putting Tomas to sleep."

"Are you trying to say that she made Tomas into a fairy tale princess?"

"It's just a theory, but she was much more eager to take him after finding out that I could possibly be in love with someone," he told him, working through a thought. "It's possible that Fay could have been the one to help me had she taken me instead. And as far as I know, Tomas is still single, putting himself into his job." Sander shrugged a little as they stopped in front of the room he and Fay had been using. "I mean, it's just a thought, but it doesn't answer who took him or where."

"Any kind of answers are helpful," Tony said, squeezing his arm a little. "It could point us in some kind of direction. I'll find you when we find something out." Sander nodded, heading into his room.

Tony walked back down the hall to the room where he had left the small group before. Entering silently he heard Loki's frustrated voice. "-same power as last night!"

"And the body is still where we contained it last night," Utgard-Loki tried not to growl back. He knew that the anger in Loki's voice was personally directed at him. "That has not changed, this is an entirely new player to the game."

"How is it possible that these people have been able to come to this place, and take my family by surprise, not once, but twice? And how is it that no one can find out where they are from?" Loki's fingers start to glow with power, the green fluctuating between it's usual vibrant green to match his eyes, and a sickly green that Tony was starting to worry about. He walked over and took one of Loki's hands, threading his fingers through Loki's. "I want to know who this hel-hated harpy is! I want the body of the horeson who took my son."

"Now that's just being mean against hapry's,' Balder murmured, earning a glare from his brother.

"And why have you not delivered her to me," Loki snapped. Tony put a hand on the back of Loki's neck, giving it a small squeeze. He felt Loki's muscle tense under his fingers slightly.

"Don't you dare even think about snapping at me," Tony warned him, saying it quietly so that only Loki could hear.

"I'm still figuring out all the things I can do," Balder responded calmly. "It's going to take more than a year to figure out how to run a Universe. Rest assured I am still searching."

"There's good reason to think that he's going to be left in relatively good health," Tony said louder this time. "Sander has a pretty good idea of what might be happening. It might give us some clues to get him back quickly."

Tony didn't expect that it would take over a decade before they were able to get any answers.


	5. Chapter 5

**A****/N: This first chapter takes place almost exactly one year later from the end of Unseen Curve.  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Tony was on the couch, one leg pulled up, tablet balanced on his knee, other leg stretched out, back leaning against the arm of the couch. He was searching through some information gathered, typing out notes as they came to him, engrossed in his work that he almost missing when his six year old daughter hopped onto the couch. Tony looked over, raising an eyebrow at Key as she stared back at him in silence.

"How can I help you little miss?" She took his words as invitation to get closer to him, crawling up his leg. He put his tablet down on the table and wrapped an arm around her back.

"Daddy, why doesn't Sander celebrate his birthday?" Key asked in a soft voice. She was still quiet, only speaking when it was absolutely essential, but she was bright. Extremely bright. Tony ran his hand through the ends of Key's pony tail, the ends of her hair taking on a natural curl. "Today is his birthday, but he doesn't have a party like Melli or me."

"Your brother never used to celebrate his birthday alone," Tony started to explain, letting Key tuck herself into his side. The two were often times inseparable.

"He shared a birthday with Tomas, right?" Key asked, looking up at her Dad. "His twin, our other brother." Tony smiled a little sadly, nodding. They had been searching for five years for and sign of Tomas, for any information about the strange woman, and Sander had taken it the hardest. Melisande still vaguely remembered Tomas, having only been three when he was taken, but Tony and Sander still told stories about him, having the little girls remember him until he came back.

"Sander doesn't like to have his birthday alone, anymore. He will again, soon though." Tony grabbed his tablet and brought it back over, turning it back on and showing Key the screen. "You want to see what I'm working on for Sander and Fay?" She nodded and scooted up a little. Tony brought up a tab to show her some pictures.

Loki walked into the living room to see Key holding onto the tablet now, moving some things around the screen with Tony watching. He pulled his jacket off and dropped it over Key's head from behind. She let out a gasp and started to squirm underneath. He let a little smile cross his lips as Tony chuckled, pulling the long jacket off of the little girl. She turned around and pursed her lips and furrowed her brows, giving Loki the most adorably, angry, pout.

"Forgive me my child," he said as he walked over, cupping her cheeks in his hands, kissing her forehead. "You are just small, like your Daddy, and I didn't see you." She let out a huff and Loki kissed her forehead again.

* * *

Fay walked into the apartment and let out a breath as she toed off her shoes. She sniffed the air and blinked a little. "Sander? Did you do something to make the apartment smell good?" She pulled off her blazer top and dropped her keys and phone onto the table by the door. "It's smells like, food, and flowers?" She walked further into the apartment and blinked in surprise when she saw the table set with candles.

"Hang on!" Sander called out from the bedroom. "You're home earlier than I thought!"

"I'm home at the same time I usually am." She walked over to inspect the table, wondering what was going on. Fay knew what day it was, and she wondered if she should pleasantly surprised, or worried.

Sander came out and Fay turned her head to look at him. He was wearing some black slacks, a black button down with a cream waistcoat on over it. She raised her eyebrows but leaned into the soft kiss he planted on her lips.

"Are you feeling okay?" She put a hand up to his forehead.

"I'm fine. So I have some food in the oven, it's already cooked and it smells good, but honestly I'm not sure if it tastes good." Sander had reached up and taken her hand, rubbing her knuckles.

"You're used to making custom pet food, this is true." Fay watched him carefully. "You didn't take one of those recipes and alter it did you?"

"No, I did not," Sander rolled his eyes, smiling a little. "Even though there would be nothing wrong with it, it's all natural." He took her other hand and pulled her along towards the kitchen, before stopping them in front of the glass door to the balcony. The sun was starting to set, giving the sky a purple and red tint.

"I know it's no secret that we both know what today is, and you have been more than patient with me over these past 5 years. I haven't exactly made things easier, and I don't know if I'll ever be able to show you my appreciation for everything, so far." Fay smiled at him and put a hand on his cheek, lightly patting it. "I also haven't been the partner that you really deserve, and I'm shocked sometimes that you're still with me. So, I'm going to feed my ego, or possibly destroy it, and ask you a personal question."

Fay raised an eyebrow at him. Sander leaned his head against hers, kissing her nose. "This is me, trying to tell you that I'm going to try and be better, and I'm going to ask if you'd like to do something crazy with me. I'm going to ask if you'd like to marry me." Her eyes widened when Sander reached the pocket of his waistcoat and pulled out a silver filigree ring with a round topaz in the center.

Fay looked at the ring then back to him. "You're serious? Honest to gods serious?" Sander nodded once and she grabbed his face, kissing him. "Of course I'll marry you, you stupid man." Sander grinned and kissed her once more before slipping the ring on her finger.

"So I've got a matching ring, and I've lined the ring with some spells," Sander said as Fay looked at the ring. She looked up at Sander when she felt the shift in the air, and fond herself looking into Sander's female counterpart. "The rings will resize themselves when we shift." Sander smiled and wrapped an arm around around Fay's waist, pulling their bodies closer.

"Sander!" The couple let out a sigh when they heard Melisande's voice in the living room. "Dad sent me."

"In here, Melli," Sander called out, keeping a hand on Fay's waist instead of pulling away completely. Melisande was the only sibling that Sander felt comfortable shifting in front of.

"You know I'd usually call first," Melisande said as she walked into the room, "but Dad sent me to come and get you. He said to tell you that there's news, finally?" Sander blinked and looked back at Fay. "He talked to Uncle Balder, and Anders is coming too."

Fay squeezed Sander's hand. "Let's get changed and go over there, yeah? Maybe this will be a good birthday this year."


	6. Chapter 6

**A****/N: This first chapter takes place almost exactly one year later from the end of Unseen Curve.  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Eindride walked into the living room after making sure that Cyrus, Key, and Melisande were occupied in the play room. Balder was talking to Loki as they waited for Emma to show up. Elpis came up behind him and put a hand on his back, nodding once.

"Alright, I'm here." A few eyes looked over as Emma walked into the room, sitting by Tony. "Do we have good news?"

"We have progress," Balder said carefully. Tony was sitting on the couch, Emma on one side and Kaia on the other. Sander and Fay sat on another couch while Eindride and Elpis stood behind them. "I've been able to track and single out the power signature of the one who took Tomas. Unfortunately, I can only track the power when they show up in different Realms, and not back to where they dwell."

"They?" Kaia raised an eyebrow. "There's more than one?"

"That's the interesting part," Balder supplied. "There is more than one, but the power is all the same. For instance I would be able to track Loki's power and find any one of you, but I would be able to tell there was a difference."

"How do you know that there is more than one then?" Loki asked with a furrowed brow. He wasn't sure how this was going to get them closer to finding their son.

"Because the power shows up in different Realms at the same time. I've been able to locate three at once," Balder explained. "And after living with you," he looked at Loki, "I know the difference between clones and real people."

"What are they doing on other Realms?" Emma asked. "Is there anyone else looking for these people?"

"As far as I can tell, we are the only ones who have actually seen them, or at least one of them. Others have gone missing just like Tomas, but there is no pattern. At the moment, we're the only ones who have any idea of what might be happening."

"But we're not any closer to finding them yet?" Tony asked. Balder nodded slowly and Tony let out a slow sigh. Sander seemed to sink back into the couch, Fay twining her fingers with his.

"We're on the right track though," Balder pressed to reassure them. "I'm still accessing all of the knowledge of, well, everything, but this will help."

There was a small moment of silence and Elpis looked at Eindride, the two communicating with their eyes and eyebrows, as was completely normal between the two. Eindride wiggled his nose a little and pulled off his glasses, cleaning them in a nervous habit while clearing his throat. "I'm not sure if we have anything that could help find Tomas, but we have some interesting news about it." Eindride put his glasses back on. "Well, not us, persay."

"Stop being cryptic, it's not very becoming," Kaia told her younger brother. Elpis slipped away back down the hall. "What do you have?"

"Who," Eindride corrected her. "One of my secretaries, Chandra, has apparently been having some of the strangest dreams." He didn't glance back when he heard the two footsteps approaching, the newcomer drawing the gazes of the rest of the family, and concerned looks from Loki and Balder. Elpis walked over with a woman that same height as her, looking just a little older than Sander was. She had long, thick, black hair, and her tanned skin told of family roots from India. Her big eyes also told everyone how nervous she was feeling at the moment.

"Anders-" Tony started, but was cut off by the one he was addressing.

"Believe me, I get it, but this is important." Eindride didn't need to hear how it was possibly a very bad idea to bring in someone to see the inner workings of their family. To let them in on knowledge they shouldn't have, like knowing about Balder's new role, or even about how Tomas was missing.

Chandra looked around the room in curiosity but froze for a second when she looked at Sander. Sander noticed and blinked, trying now to frown. She took a breath and cleared her throat a little. "I'm not actually sure what's going on, but over the past four months, maybe, I've been having some reoccurring dreams. It used to be just a couple of the same dreams every week, but now, they're almost every night." She reached one hand over to rub at her arm, never really focusing her eyes on one family member.

Eindride could practically feel the same question that was on everyone's mind, directed at him. 'What's the point of this, Anders?' "I didn't think anything of the dreams at first," Chandra continued after a second. "Until I went into Mr Stark's office to leave some papers, and I saw a family picture on his desk. I'm just a secretary, usually just a go between for messages and phone calls between a couple of departments, no one particularly exciting." Her fingers picked at the long skirt she was wearing. "But when I saw the picture on the desk, I kind of froze, because the person in my dreams, was in the picture."

"Tomas?" Tony asked, frowning a little as she nodded. "You were seeing him in your dreams?" He felt, more than saw, Loki glance over at him. "I haven't had any visions of him, or anything related," he directed towards his husband. "I've been waiting for them, that's for sure. This wasn't set up by the Norns, I can tell you that."

"Why would you be seeing him in your dreams?" Sander asked, looking over at her. "Did you know him at all?" Fay could feel him trying to contain all the questions he wanted ask, and some other emotions she couldn't quite pin down.

"We had a few classes together in University," she admitted. "We were in a study group together. Then he went for his Master's in Astronomy and I went to a different school and things got silent. I guess I know why though, if he's been missing..." Chandra looked at Sander. "When I first saw you I guess I got a little startled because you look just like him. He told me he had a twin, but that was just something I had filed away."

Sander stared at her, studying her for a moment, trying to process some thought. "I don't understand. Why you?" Fay frowned a little and leaned over, trying to catch his attention. "Why would you be seeing him? You don't even know him that well, not really."

"Sander," Kaia frowned and spoke up. It was very rare that they saw Sander being anywhere close to being rude to someone who didn't deserve it.

"It doesn't make any sense," Sander stood up. "And you guys don't understand," he directed towards his family. "Yeah, we're family, yeah he's a brother to you guys, but he's not Your twin. I Am. We have a different connection, we always have, it's just something that's always been there." He rubbed his face with one of his hands quickly. "I'd die again for him, without a second thought, and that's what he did for me five years ago. So you'll excuse me if I'm finding it a little hard to just easily accept that some, practical, stranger is suddenly having dreams about my brother, and I'm sitting here twiddling my thumbs because I can't do anything! I can't, we had," Sander blew out a frustrated breath.

He turned when he felt a hand on his arm and saw Chandra looking at him. "There's a connection that twins have, right now you're feeling a little lost without it, aren't you?" Sander frowned a little, but nodded once. "I know what you're feeling. I had a twin as well. I don't know why I'm able to see him, and you aren't, but I want to help you. When I saw the picture, I told Mr Stark right away about the dreams, and now here I am. To help."

Sander felt Fay put a hand on his back and he leaned a little into her touch, feeling his previous emotions leave him in a rush, giving him a drained feeling. "Why don't you tell us about your dreams." Loki said softly, catching their attention again.


	7. Chapter 7

**A****/N: Here's a longer chapter to make up for the wait. I was stuck on this chapter, mostly because I had lost over 600 words of this chapter at one point and had to rewrite it. But here we go!  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

_"You know, third star to the right? It makes no sense." Chandra turned and blinked when she heard a voice vaguely familiar. "To whose right was this star? And what star is the central point?"_

_"Why am I not surprised that you're complaining about a children's story." She looked at Tomas as he sat in the bay window of her old childhood home._

_"I'm complaining about the bastardized version," Tomas corrected. "The original is much more dark and creepy." He looked around the room, inspecting the light colored room, with the pink bedding on the big bed. "This is where you lived when you were younger?"_

_"In America, yes. Not everyone lived in a giant Tower in New York," Chandra teased._

_"Manhattan," he said without thinking. "There are some weird territorial attitudes. Although we vacationed in Malibu, a lot."_

_"What are you doing here? What am I doing here?" Tomas looked at her and shrugged his shoulders._

_"This isn't my dream, you've never told me anything about this place." Tomas pushed himself up and walked around the room. "I gotta say though, I think I might actually prefer to be here than where I am right now though."_

_"Laying in a pink bed?" She raised her eyebrows at him as he flopped back onto the bed, arms out. "I think your family might have some comments about that."_

_"That's a pretty good educated guess," Tomas confirmed._

_"I work for your brother, so it's not exactly a guess." Tomas sat up and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I work as a secretary at SI now. I get to organize, it's a good job, and I actually like the people I work with, so I can't have many complaints about working with another Stark." She smirked a little and Tomas snorted._

_"If you would have come to Spain with me, you wouldn't have had to put up with my brother." He pushed himself up and gently pat her cheek. "I miss our college days sometimes."_

_"The study group that usually ended being just the two of us?" She smiled at him. "Then someone had to go and get an internship and leave."_

_"We made a good team though. You were always good at figuring out the puzzles." Tomas looked at her, face getting serious. "I need you to figure this one out for me, one more time, help me out."_

* * *

"Did he give any hints to what kind of puzzle it was?" Tony asked. Loki was silent beside him, taking in all the information. "Did he happen to give any hints?"

"I think if he knew what to do, he wouldn't be asking for help," Eindride said. "He asked you to go to Spain with him?"

"I was taking a semester off, and he said I should go with him for a week or two, as a vacation," Chandra explained, voice soft. "I had to remind him that I was taking a semester off to save money for a future internship, unpaid, and not to go on vacation."

"I was actually footing that bill, I'm sure he would have just added that to it," Tony said, leaning his chin on his folded knee. "To be honest, I probably wouldn't have noticed the added charges." Chandra glanced up a little the noticed that Loki was watching her. He looked like he was going to say something before Emma spoke first.

"Did you love my brother?" Chandra's eyes widened as she whipped her head over to look at Emma. "Maybe love was the wrong word. Feelings, yeah that sounds better. You have feelings for Tomas, don't you?"

"Way to be direct," Eindride mumbled. "Taking tact lessons from our Father?" Emma made a gesture that made Loki snort a little. Obviously something she learned from Jotunheim.

Chandra tried to cover up a nervous cough, a little color rising to her cheeks. "This is not exactly that way that someone would like to have this revealed," she murmured before straightening and looking up. "Yes, I do. I did back when we had classes together and I still do now, for that matter. When we switched schools we kept in contact mostly through email, and a few phone calls, like when he got the internship. I had hoped that he felt the same, but I never had the chance to figure it out..." Chandra glanced at the family and noticed that most were looking towards Sander.

Sander let out a sigh. "There are a few certain things that Tomas and I had agreed not to discuss details about. Relationships being one of them, up until a certain point." The others had relented with their looks. Sander's fingers fidgeted a little in his lap. "Alright, fine. "You said that he had asked you to go to the Islands with him?"

Chandra nodded a little. "He said that he needed someone smart to help him get settled so he didn't end up living out of his hotel room the whole time. We both knew that he could get carried away with his job and completely ignore all other necessities until he no longer needed them."

"He takes after Dad in that regard, that's for sure," Kaia threw in.

"He may have mentioned that he was hoping that he wouldn't have to make the initial plane ride alone," Sander continued. "Although, thinking back to that day, it's probably a good thing you didn't go, you might have ended up in that car accident as well." Chandra's eyes widened a little, but Sander kept talking. "We don't give names of anyone we're dating until we're absolutely sure that it's serious."

"Or if your name is Mellisande," Eindride said under his breath, earning a soft glare from his brother.

"That way, the other one doesn't know who the person is that they might be interested in, and if something happens and fates plays a trick, and we meet that person by chance, there's an equal shot."

"Oh my god," Emma said, staring at Sander. "You both made a clause for what is essential a dick-measuring contest. Why does that surprise me, I shouldn't be surprised."

Sander let out a low growl. "I'm only continuing this for Chandra's sake, but I would Really appreciate it if you would stop interrupting me." He could feel Fay's hand on his back, rubbing small circles with her thumb. "If you're the same person that he was talking about, he may have let it slip that he might not be coming alone to Christmas that year."

"Oh..." Chandra blinked as she took in the information, before taking a breath. "Um, ill timed question, I'm sure, but where is the bathroom?"

"I shall assist you Miss Bandhar," JARVIS spoke up and Chandra jumped slightly at the new voice.

"That's just JARVIS," Tony said, thinking that everyone would know who that was. "You can trust him to not lead you astray." She nodded a little and got up, following the AI's direction, the voice disappearing down the hall.

"Is she having dreams about him because she misses him, or is it actually Tomas reaching out?" Emma was the first to ask. "She admitted to practically falling in love with him."

"But why would she start having the dreams now? Why not even two years ago?" Tony argued. "When you're missing someone like that and start having detailed dreams, you don't do it after 5 years of not talking to the person. You do it maybe 5 months, after the thought has had some time to make root in your brain. Depends on the attachment..." They all knew that he was talking from experience.

"This is Tomas," Loki said quietly, finally speaking up. "I think he's finally found a way to reach out from wherever he is, and he just so happened to find her."

"Maybe he's been unable to reach any family because he's being blocked," Elpis suggested. "I mean, when I was in the Box I was unable to reach out to anyone that I knew, I was unable to reach anyone, but I felt that there was a distinct disconnect from family and friends." She wiggled her nose a little when the attention was turned to her. "If I was crazy and wanted to keep someone in my personal collection, I would make sure that they sure as hell couldn't reach anyone from their very powerful, very influential family." Eindride kissed her cheek.

"And since no one knew about Chandra, there was no block," Kaia finished. "We can't let anyone else figure out that there's a connection between them. That would instantly put her in danger."

"And vanish any hope in what little we already have," Balder added, looking at his brother, who just nodded. "We'll need to keep an eye on her without actually changing anything in her life."

Tony snorted a little. "Once you get involved with this family? Good luck."

* * *

Chandra leaned on her elbows on the railing of the balcony, looking out at the ocean underneath her. The sound of the waves was soothing, but reminded her nothing of home. She prided herself on not jumping when someone was suddenly next to her, leaning on the railing as well, even though they were taller. She pulled some of her long hair over her shoulder, running nervous fingertips through the ends.

"You know, I'm just a human, a regular human," Chandra said after a few moments, still not entirely sure who was standing next to her yet. "I want to help, but I don't know what else I can do other than telling you about my dreams. I don't know how he wants me to help..."

"We don't know either, yet," she heard Sander say. His voice was softer than it had been when he first found that she had been able to talk to his brother and he couldn't. "But it won't be long now until we figure something out. We have a lot of resources at our hands, unearthly resources."

"You came out here to do more than give me comforting words," Chandra turned a little to the side to look at Sander now. "Do you have more questions?"

"Tell me about your twin." Sander moved his head to look at her. To anyone else he would have sounded rude and insensitive and they would have been well within their rights to call him a name and walk off. But Chandra had already told him that she knew what he was feeling, and he was going to cash in on her words.

Chandra let out a little sigh and turned to lean her back against the balcony railing now, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Her name was Laksmhi, she was younger than me by by 22 minutes." She looked over at Sander's raised eyebrow. "My Father is from India, and my Mother is half Indian and American, so they chose Indian names for us." Sander nodded a little and let her continue. "Oh we got into all sorts of trouble and mischief, specially when we would go to India to visit our relatives. It's so easy to get lost on purpose in the bigger cities."

She rubbed her arm a little and looked down at the ground. "Tomas met her, actually, several times. We decided not to go to the same colleges, but we still visited each other at school. Those two got fabulously. He must have seen a lot of you in her, because he treated her like a younger sister." Chandra let a little smile grow "She told me that she hoped I would end up with him, that we were too alike, and different, to be just friends."

Sander licked his lips, feeling the downturn to the story. "What happened?"

"She went traveling with our parents, three years ago. They were going back to India to visit, and I was finishing some of my classes, so I couldn't go." Chandra turned back to look at the water. Sander made note of the many times that she had changed positions. "They decided to take a bit of a vacation trip, traveling to several different cities, including Dubai. I was so jealous, I've always wanted to go there. Somewhere during the trip her and our mother got sick, looked like it might be some kind of flu, and it very could have been."

Sander had been watching her while she talked, then reached over when she paused, an arm around her back, guiding her over to one of the chairs on the balcony. He moved another chair so he could still see her and sat down. "Our mother was sick for a week, but she did start to get better. Regular colds affect her more strongly now, and she regularly goes to the doctor for treatment. Lakshmi did not have the same reaction... She developed pneumonia, it had attacked her lungs fiercely, putting her into the hospital. I made it to India after that," she finished softly.

"I died six years ago," Sander said suddenly, pulling Chandra's head up to look at him. "It was right after our youngest sister was born." Sander was going to continue when they heard the glass door open. Looking over they saw three kids peeking through. "Speak of the littlest devil. Come on out here you three," Sander said as he waved Cyrus, Key, and Melisande over to them. "This is Chandra, she works with your parents, Cyrus, and is Tomas's very good friend.

"Have you come to help find him, too?" Key asked the older woman quietly. She smiled when Chandra nodded. "Good, because we all want Sander to celebrate their birthday again."

Sander blinked and looked at Key, then his eyes widened a little. "Oh my god! I forgot!"

"You forgot it was your birthday?" Melli asked frowning at her brother. She squeaked when Sander wrapped his arm around her waist and picked her up to his face level.

"No, I forgot to tell you that Fay and I are going to get married." Melli squealed and wrapped her arms around Sander's neck, hugging him tightly. Chandra smiled a little watching them, then laughed when Melli smacked his arm, telling him it was about time.


	8. Chapter 8

**A****/N: Here's a longer chapter to make up for the wait. I was stuck on this chapter, mostly because I had lost over 600 words of this chapter at one point and had to rewrite it. But here we go!  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Cyrus ran out to the living room ahead of the others and climbed up into Eindride's lap in the most uncomfortable way possible, making Eindride grunt every time he moved. He noticed that Tony and Loki were sitting next to his Dad on the couch and promptly crawled over Eindride and placed himself between his Dad and Grandpa. Key pulled herself up to sit between Tony and Loki more calmly, leaning her head against Tony's arm. They watched as Melli was pulling on Sander's hand to bring him back to the room, Chandra trailing behind him.

"Oh good, the messenger service has brought you back to us," Emma quipped sitting on the couch with Elpis between her and Kaia. It seemed they were done talking about the previous topic as Balder was gone as well. "Dad's feelin lazy-" Loki scoffed loudly at the declaration "-and so we were gonna order out."

"Before you have to go all blue on us again and go rule a Kingdom?" Sander raised an eyebrow He could see Emma and Kaia poised to tell him about giving too much information but he cut the off. "If Chandra's going to be helping, I'd really rather her not be getting surprised about stuff."

"He definitely takes after you," Tony commented to Loki, running his hand through Key's hair.

"He does have a point though," Loki said with a shrug. He waved his hand a little and some of the chairs moved closer to make room for the whole family to sit together "I think first, we should decide what to eat, I'm becoming quite famished."

"Meaning his appetite could rival Uncle Thor's," Eindride stated.

"Also meaning, whoever brings the food is going to get a fantastic tip," Emma finished.

"I think that Sander and Fay should get to choose what to eat," Melli declared with a knowing smirk.

"And why is that, little one?" Loki asked with a raised eyebrow. Melisande giggled and tugged on Sander's left hand again. "Is that a clue?"

"Please, please please please, tell me that you and Fay plan on having kids," Eindride suddenly pleaded, putting his hands together in front of him. "I want to see how you get utterly whipped by your own children, as much as you are by our sister." Chandra placed a hand over her mouth to try and hide her laughter as Fay rolled her eyes a little.

"That's something they can talk about after they talk about getting married," Kaia said, pointing at Eindride. "They have to figure out who's going to be the bride, so that it'll be easier to figure out who's going to carry the baby." She smirked when Sander let out a loud yelp.

"I'll have you know that I surprised her, and I did all the planning." Five wide eyes turned to look at him, and Fay just gently rested her forehead against the palm of her hand. Loki just smirked. "That was kind of a crappy way to announce that I proposed, wasn't it?" Chandra and Melli nodded at him.

"As if I expected anything else from you." He turned to see that Fay had gotten up from her seat and was standing in front of him now, smiling. "I told you today might not be a bad birthday."

Tony raised his hand, a smile on his face, and Loki pushed his hand back down. That didn't stop his mouth from moving. "So, who Is going to wear the dress?" Tony let out a yelp when Key pinched his side, and Loki was grinning at the action. "It's a valid question! There could be two weddings you know."

"Oh yes," Loki looked over at Sander, who's cheeks were turning a little red. He never liked discussing his shapeshifting personal life with anyone other than Melisande, Loki, and sometimes Tony. And now the whole family was here for the conversation. "That is very possible, so many possibilities. And it would give your father another reason to go shopping for a wedding dress for one of his children."

"I'm starting to wonder if maybe Dad has a little dress envy." Kaia and Emma grinned at Tony.

"Heeeey," Tony whined, frowning a little.

"He had to miss out on dress shopping for Emma and Elpis, so you'll need to pick up for the slack, Sander." Sander scowled at his two older sister on the couch, sparing one for for Elpis who was hiding her face in the couch cushion to muffle her laughter.

"Chandra," Sander said calmly, not looking away from his siblings. "I want you to think very carefully about getting involved with this family, because they are cruel, very cruel." He jumped a little when Melli pinched his leg at his words. "I repeat. Cru-El." 

* * *

Sander was in the kitchen helping to put away the leftovers from dinner, listening to the rest of the house start to get quieter as the kids were falling asleep, a movie playing in the background. He didn't hear Loki walk in but he could feel him as he approached.

"I tell you, if I wasn't born into this family, I'd at least want to be the one who delivers our food." He snapped a top on the container and set it by the others. "Did Dad really give him over a hundred dollars for a tip?"

"You know your father," Loki said as he reached over to grab a carrot before Sander sealed the next container. "He felt the need to celebrate and gives in plenty. I can't deny him the right. It's about time, honestly." He smirked when Sander shot him a look. "I must say that I'm happy to see it happen, though. There was a small, unfortunate, thought that it might not happen."

"Because I might be too depressed?" Sander asked with a raised eyebrow. "I won't lie and say that it wouldn't have been a possibility, but, when has this family let someone down." He gave Loki a genuine smile. "The wedding just might be a little delayed as i wait for my Best Man."

"I think a little tardiness can be excused," Loki nodded, agreeing. "After all, it took many years before your father and I actually got married after his surprise proposal. In fact I made him wait until after Eindride had been born. I'm afraid that it could start to become a habit in this family, if we aren't careful."

"Does Anders really count?" Loki snorted a little as he leaned against the counter. "I mean, he's always been a little crazy to us." Sander grabbed the containers and moved over to put them away in the fridge. "I think I have a few questions, possibly, about that?" Loki raised an eyebrow at his son, noticing the color coming to his face. "I guess I'm not very informed about my shapeshifting abilities, not like you or Fay. Is it-" He stopped when Loki held up two fingers, grateful for the cue to stop.

"It is very possible, if you two aren't completely paying attention, for you to become with child." Loki could have sworn that Sander had paled a little, almost unnoticeable. "It would be almost too uncomfortable for both of us to discuss what happens between you two."

"Thank you," Sander said almost painfully.

"But, distractions can lead to surprises. How do you think most of our children were born?" Loki grinned when Sander nearly choked on his own breath. "Oh, I do enjoy telling the truth almost as much as I enjoy making mischief. It throws so many people off."

"I'm starting to despise this family," Sander murmured, rubbing the bride of his nose with two fingers.


	9. Chapter 9

**A****/N: Another six year time jump. Last one, I swear.  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Tony winced a little when he walked by the closed door to Melisande's room. He's sure if he looks he'll see the door actually vibrating in its place from the volume of the music that's playing in her room, the vibration of the bass and drums from the rock music that he can't stomach. He'll never give up on the classics from his time. Never.

"Hey, JARVIS?" Tony glanced at the door, still walking past the now 14 year old's door. "What is she doing in there?"

"Miss Melisande is re-purposing some old clothing," his faithful AI responded. "She had procured some older shirts from Master Loki and yourself." Tony stopped and raised an eyebrow. "she confirmed with that neither of had worn some of the clothing in years before using them. She putting to use a self taught skill of sewing to make new shirts."

Tony held up a hand and he headed back down the hall. "I don't think I want to know anymore, actually. Just let me know if she hurts herself with needles or scissors, or looks like she about to cut into some of my vintage shirts. And please Stop her before she does that."

He walked into the living room and saw Key sitting on the floor, back against the couch with a notebook in her lap. Loki was sitting on said couch legs folded in front of him, as he put braids into her hair that he must have learned how to do from Asgard. Tony walked behind the couch, leaned over to see that Key was actually sketching into a drawing sketchbook.

At twelve, Key was still smaller than her other siblings at that age, showing that she was going to be around Tony's height, and shorter than the others. Where Melisande's hair darkened to an almost black like Loki's hair, Key's hair was a shade lighter than Tony's. While Melisande, at 14, was entering 11th grade, Key had asked to be home schooled by JARVIS when she was 9 and fond herself in the same grade as her sister. Key didn't talk nearly as much as her other siblings, or even as much as Loki, but she wasn't shy. Some of her teachers from the schools had taken her silence for apathy, claiming they never saw her do any work in the classroom, and the other students had even started to tease her to get her to talk.

"I wouldn't tell Uncle Steve this, but you might actually be a better artist than he is." Tony smirked when he heard the soft snort come from his youngest daughter. Tony's hands splayed out on Loki's shoulders and started to rub them a little. "Can we have another baby to replace the girls when key becomes a teen?" He saw Key's head lift slightly, her pencil stopping it's sketch of a nameless figure. "Melli is apparently cutting up some of our old shirts to make clothes, and she only just became a teen not too long ago."

"Our children aren't like pets," Loki replied, amusement tinting his tone. "We can't just keep getting a new one when they reach their slightly less than enjoyable years."

"You two aren't funny," Key murmured and went back to her drawing. Loki smirked and Tony leaned down to kiss his shoulder. "And you two are gross."

"You know that all your siblings are proof that we've had sex at least six times right?" Tony bit back a laugh when he saw a shiver cross her back. "I know JARVIS has been teaching you sex-ed. I'm the one who checks most of your homework." Tony leaned forward a little more and kissed Loki's cheek. "I'll be back, I'm going to see Eir."

"Will she be coming back after lunch?" Loki asked as he started another smaller braid in Key's hair.

"Yeah, she's loves to spoil the kids with gifts from other Realms." They both saw how Key had perked up a little. Just like Sander and Tomas, Key and Melisande adored their Nana. "Sander is coming, too, he says he has some good news." 

* * *

Tony sipped from his glass, leaning back in his chair a little as Eir and Sander split a dessert. "I think you've led us on long enough." Tony watched as a grandmother tried to admonish her grandson, with a smirk, for keeping his good news from her for too long. "What have you been hiding from us?"

"Hiding makes it sound like I never intended to tell anyone," Sander commented as he licked his spoon from the chocolate sauce sticking to it. He let Eir have the last bit of cake and ice cream as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded envelope. As he opened it all the creases disappeared and Tony raised an eyebrow. Whatever was in it must have been important if he was using his magic to preserve it.

Sander pulled out two thicker pieces of papers and pushed them over to Eir upside down, a smile on his face. She looked at him raising an eyebrow before she took them and flipped them over. Tony couldn't help but lean forward in curiosity.

Eir's eyes widened a little ad she looked at Sander, a grin lighting up. "Two of them?" Sander nodded. "Oh, you are going to have your hands full." She leaned over and kissed his forehead, hands cupping his cheeks.

"Lemme see," Tony almost whined as he leaned over to take the papers. He found out quickly that they were pictures, and they were pictures from an ultrasound. "Fay's pregnant?" Tony looked up at the smiling Sander who nodded. "Yeeeee!" Tony let out a strange kind of squeal and leaned over to hug his son. "I love when my children give me grandchildren to spoil!" Eir couldn't help but laugh at her own son.

"Grandchildren?" They trio looked up when they heard Key's voice approaching the table.

"What are you doing here, tiny?" Sander smiled at his sister, smiling a little wider when she wrinkled her nose at the nickname.

"Melli asked if we could come out so she could get some stuff for her clothes, and I asked if Dad could drop me off here." Key walked over and hugged Eir at the table, her Nana hugging her back and kissing her cheek. "They're just a couple stores over." Tony pushed out the chair that was next to him for her, pulling it closer to his with his foot when she sat down. She smiled and leaned over to steal the rest of the water from his second glass.

"Your brother has just informed us that his fiance is pregnant, and they're going to have two little monsters," Tony filled his daughter in, arm resting along the back of the chair she was in. Eir couldn't help but smiling. She loved watching her son with his kids.

"There's something else," Sander started as he took one of the pictures. He opened his mouth to keep talking when a shiver suddenly ran down his back. Tony and Eir noticed it too, and they both looked around, noticing that suddenly the restaurant was silent. Everyone around them had stopped moving, being frozen in time. Key had pulled her legs up onto the chair moving as close as she could to Tony.

"Eir?" Tony asked slowly as he got up, looking around. "Can you go get Loki, quickly? Take Key with you."

Sander also stood up, frowning He turned around his eyes widened when he saw someone facing him. A woman, frighteningly familiar. She smirked and walked closer to him and he backed up hitting the table. "Dad."

Tony turned quickly and took a couple steps closer, putting himself between the woman and his children. He wasn't going to let her take another one of his children.

"We meet again," she purred out, stopping a few feet away. "It occurs to me that we've never formally introduced ourselves."

"Eir," Tony said again, never taking his eyes away from the woman.

"Here, let me help." The woman snapped her wrist, waving her hand, pushing Eir back towards the door of the restaurant with a force. "I don't exactly need a Valkyrie here right now. Maybe later." Eir hit the ground, rolling back a little, pushing herself to her knees quickly. "I've decided that I'd like to add some more of your family to my collection. I have a few more tales I'd like to display."

Eir had pushed herself up in time to see a yellow glowing circle appear around Tony, Sander, and Key. She ran towards them, watching them disappear suddenly, along with the woman, and the restaurant come back to life.


	10. Chapter 10

**A****/N: Another six year time jump. Last one, I swear.  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

"You can call me Jida." Tony blinked as he heard the woman talk, but their surroundings were different. He felt Sander back up, putting Key behind him, protecting her. Tony stood his ground, facing down the woman.

They didn't appear to be inside of a room, or even a building, but it didn't feel like they were out in the open. There was distinct lack of color where they were, with nothing around them. Jida approached Tony, keeping her eyes on him. "I have to say, I was almost impressed with your little attempt at trying to save your son." Tony tried not to frown at her words. They hadn't been able to discover the path back to Tomas yet, but he knew that Balder and Loki had been working tirelessly at it. "You should know that you weren't my first stop."

She snapped a very confused, and slightly panicked looking Chandra stumbled forward to the side. She was wearing a purple and gold sari, jewels adorning the hems, and her hair had been pulled off of her face, but was resting over her shoulders. They knew that Chandra would be in India with her parents, and it looked like she had been caught in the middle of something rather important, if her clothes were anything to go by.

"Did you actually think that if you just found a princess, it would bring your son back to you?" Tony couldn't help his look of confusion cross his face now. Jida raised an eyebrow, then smirked a little. "You didn't know?" She let out a rich laugh that sent shivers down everyone's back. "You found a princess for your precious prince, and didn't even know."

"What are you talking about?" Sander asked, put his arm out as Chandra had slowly made her way over to him and Key. Key took her hand and Chandra wrapped her other arm around the young girls shoulders.

"I thought that all Starks did their research," Jida taunted. "For the past six years you've been treating Midgardian royalty as one of your own. Even I did my research" Jida gestured back towards Chandra. "Princess Chandra Ranjana Bandhar of Jaipur." Tony couldn't help but turn his head to look back at Chandra this time. She didn't appear to look surprised, in fact she was looking at the ground, cheeks tinted red.

Tony froze when he felt Jida's hand on his back suddenly. "I also know that the Valkyrie was your mother, Anthony Stark. There has never been a living son of a Valkyrie, at least one that hasn't been stripped of the powers that could potentially be gained from their mother." Nails gripped his shoulder and he felt a flash of heat streak through his shoulder blades. "I wonder, what have you gained?" He felt more heat started to pool across his back and he arched a little, trying not to make a noise.

Tony tried to pull away from her, grunting when her nails dug deeper into her hold on him. He sucked in a breath when something seemed to pull at his back. Jida moved then, stepping in front of him, smirking. "This is probably going to hurt. A lot. Excruciating pain actually." Tony frowned at her, feeling the muscles in his arms and shoulder start to tense with pressure. "Your wings are coming out for the first time." 

* * *

Loki was rubbing his temples with his fingers as Balder and Eir were talking. Melisande was sitting on the couch, watching the three adults react. What she hadn't expected was to see Fay suddenly walk in. Walk was the wrong term, she half jogged, half waddled in. She blinked her eyes open wide. Fay was at least six months pregnant.

Loki stopped when he saw her, surprise even showing on his face. "Where's Sander?" Fay looked at the worried faces, the tension in the room. "He was supposed to meet me at the store."

"You are very pregnant," Melli commented. That seemed to be enough to snap Loki out of the shock. "When did this happen?"

"I just got back from Jotunheim,I'm almost in the eighth month," Fay told her. "Sander and I were visiting Emma and Dani, and he came back early to tell everyone the news." She looked at Loki then over at Eir and Balder. "What's happened?"

"He was taken," Balder told her. "Along with Tony and Key. By the same one who took Tomas." Fay's eyes widened but Balder held up a hand before she could talk. "We think we have a better chance at following her. Eir has a direct link with Tony, because he is half Valkyrie, and the trail is going to fresh to follow them."

"Then we need to move quickly," Fay stressed, putting a hand on her stomach. "I'll not let him miss the birth of this baby."

"Baby?" Eir frowned a little. "Just one?" Fay nodded. "He told us that there were two."

"There are." Now it was Fay's turn to frown a little. "He didn't tell you? He's almost six months pregnant too."

Loki breathed in deeply, his fingers closing into tight fists. He was going to kill this woman when he found her. 

* * *

Tony had fallen to his knees, hands keeping him up as he fought back the waves of pain. Two golden wings were lying across his back, half folded up, limp with the pain he was feeling from being forcefully pulled out. Tony was taking deep breaths, trying to focus on not hyperventilating, and missed the hand that grabbed his shoulder, causing a fresh wave of pain to shoot through his back. "You are a very interesting creature, something that I don't think they could come up with in tales and legends." Tony looked up, glaring at the Jida. He could see Sander and Chandra still standing in front of Key just behind Jida. They had been forced to watch it all, Tony telling them to stay back with a look in his eyes. He was at least glad that they had blocked Key from seeing it, the screams of pain Jida had pulled from him had to have been bad enough to hear. "A winged Fate. A Male Valkyrie. I don't think even they thought that it could be possible."

Tony huffed out a little laugh as he tried to pull his shoulder away from her arm. "I defy odds, that's for sure. Now how about you let us go before you bring about a winged army of pissed off women? My mother knows who you are, and she has a lot of pull with the army of Valhalla." The woman let out a harsh laugh that made his newly formed wings flutter in discomfort.

"If anything I would welcome them to my land!" She stood up straight and started to walk around him. "I would love to add them to my collection, it would add more flair and excitement." She looked at him as she crossed in front of him again, smirking. "I did tell you I'm a collector, right?" She walked behind him again and Tony couldn't help but tense a little. He felt her hands softly stroke one of his wings at the top and he grit his teeth. "I'd love to add something to my own personal collection, as a trophy."

If they had known what she was going to do, there would have been no time to stop her with how fast she moved. She place a foot in the middle of Tony's back suddenly as one of her hands quickly gripped the base of the wing that met at his back and twisted with an immense force. Tony's eyes widened at first, the shock of what had just happened filling his body before the pain took over. He opened his mouth to let out a scream but her other hand quickly clamped down over it.

"It's a pity that you didn't know that that was coming, but I suppose that would be a little hard when my magic has blocking any visions. It has been for a rather long time now, since one of my servants met you at a wedding." Tony's eyes were shut tightly, hands shaking from the pain, breaths coming in harshly through his nose. Sander was holding on tightly to Key to keep her from running over to Tony, Chandra's hands were pressed up to her mouth in shock. "Shall I gift you with those abilities again?" Tony almost choked on a breath when a short rush of fire flushed through his body. "Did I mention that in this place, there are no boundaries to the hundreds of thousands different realities?" Tony's eyes fluttered open to glare at her. "There's nothing to stop you from seeing the future of each and every one of those realities." She grinned as Tony's eyes widened slightly.

She brushed the feathers of Tony's wing that was held in her hand across his cheeks, then swept them over his hands and feet, chains appearing on his wrists and ankles. "Dad!" She turned to look at the pre-teen, still held in her brothers arms. "Leave him alone!" Key glared at her, eyes narrowed with a fire behind them. "Haven't you done enough?"

"Hmm, now that you remind me, there is one more thing." Jida walked towards them and Sander pushed Key back, Chandra's arms instantly wrapping around the girl to try and protect her. Jida stopped in front of Sander and they stared at each other. "Did you tell the about your own secret?"

"Leave," Sander hissed out in fury at her. "You've caused enough pain, now leave us alone." His hand shot out and wrapped around his wrist before she could touch his stomach. She smirked and let her hand glow yellow briefly. Sander tensed and let out a breath, letting go as Jida backed up a little. He knew they could see his rounded stomach now, his illusion broken.

"I don't even know if I have to keep you displayed in a story," Jida said with a smirk. "You would be-"

"Stop," Tony hissed out as he pushed himself off his knees, sitting on the ground, his knees still bent, but no longer trying to hold him up. "Leave them alone." Tony grit his teeth as he felt the familiar tingle in the back of his eyes of an incoming vision. "You have me, just leave them alone." His head was pulled up by a hand gripping his chin. He knew his eyes must be starting to glow as he saw a light reflected in Jida's own yellow eyes.

"Perhaps, just for you, I'll put them somewhere safe." Her thumb rubbed her cheek a little. "I long to hear about everything that you'll see. Just think of all the near infinite realities to see from. Yes, just for you, I'll let them watch that special boy of yours. A reunion. Such a marvelous man you turned out to be for my collection." She let go of his jaw and a large book appeared in front of him, a pen lying across the open pages. "Now," she opened her hands with a smile, "tell me some stories little fate."


	11. Chapter 11

**A****/N: Another six year time jump. Last one, I swear.  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Key carefully crawled back through the vines that covered the room and gave the blanket over to Sander. He was sitting down and Chandra was rubbing his lower back. They both knew she was doing it to keep her attention away from what was at the other side of the room, the vines numerous enough to keep even Key's small figure away. Tomas was held up by the same vines that Sander had seen him in 11 years ago. He didn't look any different, like he hadn't aged a day.

It felt like they had been there for a week already, and it was very possible. Sander could feel magic surrounding them everywhere since they had arrived. If where they were really was someplace nestled between realms and realities, then time could move very differently. Luckily they hadn't felt any regular bodily needs, including hunger of thirst.

"I wonder how long until Dad comes," Key said quietly. "He's going to be furious when he hears about it." It was the first time she had spoken since they had been taken to the new room, leaving Tony. She had crawled as close as she could to Tomas, without getting hurt by the thorns, to look at the brother she couldn't remember. She had stayed there for almost as long as Sander and Chandra had watched him.

"He'll get Uncle Balder right away," Sander continued from the thought. "And with Nana to help it shouldn't take nearly as long."

"How long do you thinks it's been back home?" Key looked at her brother. She may not have nearly as many powers, but she could still recognize a magical signature changing things around them.

"I don't think it's been long," Sander guessed. "I think that time moves faster here, than it does back home. We may be waiting a while longer for someone to come." Key nodded a little and moved back over to sit by the two adults. Chandra stopped her hands pulled off the wrap of her sari and wrapped it around Key's shoulders.

"Won't you get cold?" Key asked, looking over at her. Chandra gave her a soft smile and shook her head.

"I often find myself in one extreme of temperature or the other all the time, so I'm used to be extremely hot, or extremely cold." She went back to rubbing Sander's back, but stopped when Sander had started to turn to face her. She knew that she had talked almost as little as Key since arriving. "In the summer I find myself in India with my family, and in the winter I find myself in some of the northern states."

"You look very pretty," Key told her as she pulled the wrap tightly around her shoulder, burying her hands into the fabric. She had been wearing a tank top and some shorts, and the room definitely had a chill to it. "Are you really a Princess?"

Chandra nodded, her hand ringing around some of the bracelets she wore. "My Uncle is the Maharajah of Jaipur, and my father is the current Crown Prince. My Uncle doesn't have any sons, yet, but his wife is currently pregnant, so that could change." She smiled softly. "We were there because he was going to be born any day."

"Your parents must be worried," Sander spoke up this time. "By the way you're dressed it looks like you were taken from something important."

"There was a dinner that had just ended. I was going back to my rooms when she showed up," Chandra told them. "If time moves as slowly as you think then they probably won't notice too quickly. I've been known to disappear from the palace during the day, going into the city."

"Can we visit your palace when we leave here?" Key asked, not seeing the way Sandra looked over. Chandra saw, and saw that he was probably going to tell her that it was rude to ask that.

"Of course you can," Chandra said, stopping Sander's words. "After this, when we go back, you'll all have to come to Jaipur. There will be plenty of room for all you to stay." Key gave a soft smile, and Chandra was happy to know that she could at least distract the younger girl from their situation for a little bit. "You'll be friends of the royal family, and you'll be welcomed happily. The city is amazing, and I'll take you on a personal tour. We'll even get you your own personal sari."

They sat in silence for a little while longer, Key adjusting the wrap around her to use as a blanket as she laid down, her head in Chandra's lap, eventually falling asleep. "When is Fay due?" Chandra asked quietly.

Sander blinked and looked at her, finding that his eyes had started to drift off to sleep a little bit. "About five weeks," he said, looking down to find his hand on his own stomach.

"There's a little bit of a difference in your due date, isn't there?" Sander snorted with a smile and nodded.

"We didn't know she was pregnant at the time. And when we found out about her, we soon learned that we had been distracted enough on our anniversary, and," he drifted off as he gestured to his stomach. "Not long after that we went to see Emma and Dani in Jotunheim, spending at least four months there." Chandra raised an eyebrow. "They've seen my Dad when he was carrying both Melli and Key, so I thought they would have more information for me. It certainly helped to calm my panicked mind."

Chandra just nodded a little. "We'll get back before either of your children are born," she said confidently. Sander caught her eyes glancing to the side, back towards Tomas.

"It makes sense," he said and Chandra looked back at him. "When she was talking about a Princess. Tomas is a Prince of Jotunheim and Asgard both, so Jida would require a Princess to wake him up."

"Being an actual Princess doesn't help get me past those vines," Chandra said, one gesturing to the vines that were around them now. "I'm just a human, I can't heal quickly after getting hurt, I can't break them apart with my hands. I can't get to him, and I'm the one that's supposed to be able to help him."

"That just means that we wait for more help to come," Sander said matter of factly. "We'll figure something out." 

* * *

Balder opened the corresponding portal and he, Eir, and Loki stepped through, looking around at the colorless expanse around them. "You're positive this is it?"

"This is where the trail ends," Eir told them, looking around.

"I can feel him," Loki murmured. "This is where Tony is, I'm positive." Loki started walking away, following whatever he could feel, Eir and Balder following him.

They hadn't walked for to long when Loki stopped and frowned, turning his head to the side. "She's separated them," he said softly. "Sander is that way, but I can sense Tony in the opposite direction.

"I'll go," Eir volunteered immediately. "If he or the babe are in need of help, I'll be able to help. Tony might need you more right now." Loki nodded after a pause. "Don't worry, I'll get to him and we'll meet back up. We'll get everyone out of here." Eir squeezed his arm and took off walking in the direction that Loki had pointed before.

Balder put a hand on Loki's arm and the continued walking as well. Loki's body was tense and stiff, it had been for nearly two weeks. They had worked tirelessly to find the connection, chasing different portals, even finding others who were going to attempt to collect others. Those ones, Loki had killed when they refused to give any useful information. He felt a barely concealed rage tingling under his skin, wanting to fuel his powers as they searched, wanting to make anyone connected to the woman and the power pay, violently, and painfully.

Loki had lost track of how long they had walked but his attention was brought back when they saw a seated figure in the distance. He could see whoever the person was had one wing and was hunched over something. Loki wondered just how many people had been collected and what it was all supposed to mean.

As the two brothers got closer they could hear the person was quietly, and quickly, talking, his arm moving as he wrote something. Loki frowned when he saw the reason the man only had one wing, one golden wing that reminded him of Eir. The back of the shirt was dark with dried blood, a small stump where a second wing used to be looked like it had healed over without any care.

"Someone tore the wing off," Balder said quietly, a soft horror tinging his voice.

Loki slowly moved over to the front of the man, leaning down. He recognized the soft voice talking, a voice that shouldn't sound so ragged and rushed, he knew the hands that quickly scribbled away at pages in the thick book. Loki reached out and tilted the man's held up gently. He didn't recognize the glowing white eyes of Tony, his husband caught in a loop of visions.

"How long has he been sitting here?" Loki asked, trying to hide the slight shake in his voice as he watching Tony. Balder looked at the book that Tony was writing in, noticing that as he wrote the words would shrink moving to other pages on their own. He looked back at the missing wing, trying to judge how long it would have taken to heal in such an ugly way.

"It's hard to judge exactly, but it's obvious that time moves more quickly here." He glanced down at Loki, his attention focused solely on Tony. "It's been at least two months."

"He's been caught in a loop for two months." Loki's hand clenched into a fist, his knuckles white from the pressure. "Is it safe to move him?"

"Honestly?" Balder let out a breath. "I wouldn't do it until we found the others. We risk losing him to the visions entirely if we disrupt him too much. He can be brought out of these visions, but I don't dare take too many risks."

Loki swallowed and nodded. After a moment he stood back up and Tony naturally looked back down at the book, his hand had never stopped writing. He placed a gentle kiss on Tony's forehead before turning back to Balder. "We should find Eir and my children. I have memorized the path here, and I will reap my revenge once they are all safely back home."


	12. Chapter 12

**A****/N:  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

A soft whisper made Chandra slowly open her eyes from sleep. Slowly sitting up a little so she didn't wake up Key or Sander, she looked around, looking for what woke her up. She sat up straight when she saw a woman sitting in front of her. "Lakshmi?" Her eyes widened a little when her twin smiled at her. "I must be dreaming, this place must be starting to get to me."

"Oh no, not dreaming," her sister shook her head, never losing her smile. "I've come to help you, in the small ways that I can. Other help is on the way, but there's something that you have to do before they get here." Chandra followed her gaze over to Tomas. "It's time to get him, it's time he went home."

"You don't think that I don't want that?" She looked back over to Lakshmi. "We've been here for so long trying to figure out how to get to him, but there's no way to get past those vines or thorns."

Lakshmi reached up and her hand started to grip something in the air. When she brought her hand back down and opened it flat there was a jeweled dagger. It looks too dull and like it wouldn't even be able to cut through some cotton thread. "Do not judge the looks, it will work when needed." She pushed the hilt into Chandra's hand. "It can not harm a person but will cut obstacles around you."

Chandra looked down at the dagger. "This is-" she looked up and stopped, no longer seeing her sister in front of her. The dagger was still in her hand, a heavy weight to tell it that it was real. She glanced over to see Key still asleep next to Sander, the older man also asleep with a hand over his stomach. They had to get out of there soon. Jida might have stopped time around Tomas, but she hadn't done so around them and Sander had been getting bigger. "I can't believe I'm doing this."

She pushed herself up quietly and walked over to the edge of their little clearing. Chandra gathered up her skirt and pulled it up, wrapping the ends around her one wrist, hoping that she would have enough room to maneuver without getting caught and held back on the thorns. Stepping over the first of the vines, she carefully started to move through the jungle of vines. Sometimes she swore she saw them move, but tried to keep her mind off of that. Key had been able to crawl through the vines looking for supplies around the room, and nothing had happened to her.

Soon she came to the edge of where not even Key had dared to wander past for fear of getting hurt. It was so close though, two arms lengths away from Tomas. "Alright, a few scratches will mean nothing," she told herself quietly. She gripped some of the bigger vines and tried to push them down and to the side as she stepped over a pile of them, ducking down low to avoid more.

As she put her second foot down she went to walk on, hunched over, but yelped a little when something yanked on the ends of her hair. "Chandra!" She glanced over as far as she could to see that Key and Sander were awake now. "Don't move, they're tangled in your hair." She could hear more of the vines starting to move around her.

Key quickly started to move, crawling through the smaller spaces of the vines, trying to get close to Chandra. "No! Wait!" Chandra called out as she gripped the dull dagger in her hand. She swallowed thickly and closed her eyes before reaching behind her. There was another sharp yank on her hair, trying to pull her back into the vines and what could be deadly thorns if she landed the wrong way on them. She put the dagger up to her pulled out hair and felt a little release when the hair it touched was suddenly cut. Quickly bring the blade all the way through, Chandra caught herself she fell forward into more vines.

"Chandra, what are you doing?" She couldn't look back at Sander as he talked, she had to keep moving before something else reached out for her. "It's too dangerous!"

"I have to do it," she called back, hoping that Key wasn't trying to still follow her. She stopped when several vines crawled up, weaving a small wall that was too tall for her to climb over safely.

"I can't do any proper spells here, much less healing spells," Sander told her, still trying to get her to come back. "I can't help you if you get hurt."

Chandra licked her lips and looked at the vines. If she wanted to she could reach out and tough Tomas, but she still needed to get closer. "I'm not too worried about it, someone's coming."

"But we don't know When they're going to get here." Sander watched her as she started to hack at the vines that were trying to get in her way. He blinked, frowning a little. "Where did you get that dagger?"

"I wish I knew the answer to that, honestly." Chandra watched as the dagger easily sliced through the vines and she started to push them into a pile with her foot.

"Hurry up, more are coming!" Chandra almost jumped at the sound of Key yelling out cues. She chopped off the bigger thorn before quickly hopping up on the pile. She was half a foot from Tomas, she could reach her hands out and touch him, putting her hand on his shoulders. She almost fell when suddenly she started to move backwards. Her eyes widened and she jumped forward, wrapping her arm around his neck. Chandra gasped and closed her eyes when she felt multiple thorns slide into her arms and stomach.

"Chandra!" Sander was watching all the vines move, headed towards her. Not when she was so close, right there.

"I'm going to tell myself this isn't weird, and hope you want to do this again when you wake up," Chandra said mostly to herself as she pressed her lips to Tomas's, ignoring the pain she was in. Chandra groaned when the two of them suddenly dropped to the ground, landing on their sides, the vines around Tomas disappearing.

They didn't disappear around the rest of the room though. Sander saw them start to gather and lift like a wave and his eye widened. "Key! Key come back her, quickly!" Key had already turned and was running back towards her brother. "I'm very thankful that you are very small," her murmured when he wrapped his arms around her, putting his back to the vines and thorns. He tensed, waiting for them to hit, for the pain to lash across his back. He opened his eyes slightly and moved his head to look back, blinking when he saw Eir standing behind them, arms and wings out, stopping the wave of foliage.

"Nana," Sander breathed out, turning with Key still in his arms.

"Where are Chandra and Tomas?" She asked, looking over her shoulder at them. The wave of vines hadn't settled yet, hiding the two from her sight.

"On the other side," Key pointed. "She went to help him, then this happened when she kissed him." Eir nodded and looked back over. She raised her hands up them quickly brought them down, palms to the floor, an unknown force pressing the vines to the ground. She walked over the mess quickly, heading over to the two that were still on the ground.

When she leaned down, she saw that both were still breathing, but their clothes were torn from the thorns, small spots of blood dotting Tomas's pants and shirt. Chandra looking a little worse, taking more damage from her actions to get to him. Tomas had his eyes open a little, hand resting on her cheek. Eir let out a breath and let herself fall to her knees, a small smile on her face. All they had to do was get to Tony and they could get home.


End file.
